Downtown (4th St) Plan Work continues on the development of a new Downtown Regulating Plan, replacing an existing 20+ year old plan. The Plan will designate where different use, building form, or design standards apply, and how different standards transition to achieve a distinct and coordinated place with predictable built results and a high-quality public realm. The three phase approach began in July with “due diligence” and information gathering, the second phase “Engagement and Goal Development” ran from August through October, and incorporated a stakeholder group of downtown
business owners as well as a public input meeting. The third phase “Regulating Plan Development” is underway, and incorporates input from the stakeholders meetings and the public. One of the unique aspects of this Plan is to identify transition areas, both East and West of the Historic Downtown Business District (HBD), as well as areas to the north and South of the 4th St corridor. As important as the HBD is to the identity of 4th St, equally important are the designated areas described above, as those areas represent where recent projects have been pursued, but don’t fit neatly within the strict confines of an older plan. The Plan will also examine precedents and best practices, including traffic calming for reduced speeds, parking needs, streetscape amenities, street trees, arts and culture components, programmable public spaces, is there a downtown “brand,” and explore development characteristics including the scale and form of development, storefront character, mixed use in a downtown setting, downtown scale neighborhoods, improvements to signage and wayfinding, and the integral part downtown gateways play. The target date for a draft is sometime this November. We would like to thank the downtown business stakeholders group for their earnest input and for their willingness to share their vision for an improved downtown environment.
Downtown Stakeholders participated in two Planning Sessions
Elements of a Regulating Plan
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